Raiders, Boyle batter Blue Mtn.

Billed as one of its biggest tests of the season, Tamaqua’s visit to Blue Mountain last Friday was little more than a business trip.

The Raiders rolled, remaining unbeaten with a resounding 49-14 win on the road.

It was a performance that followed a similar pattern: For a third straight week, Tamaqua led 21-0 after the first quarter.

And the Raiders eventually built a 28-0 advantage and took a 35-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Tamaqua running back Nate Boyle scored three of those first-half touchdowns. The area’s leading scorer, Boyle finished with four rushing touchdowns, carrying the ball 13 times for 100 yards, while also adding one catch for 25 yards to earn Times News Player of the Week honors.

“We came out with a lot of fire,” said Boyle. “We had to prove something on Friday, and we did. If we do that every game, I think we’ll be good. We just have to do our stuff like we do every week, and we’ll be successful.”

It’s worked so far. The Raiders closed out the first half of the regular season at 5-0, outscoring opponents 45.2-7.4 through the first five weeks.

Offensively, Tamaqua’s 390.0 yards per game rank second among area teams. Balance has been key.

The Raiders’ 860 passing yards are second-most among area teams, while their 1,090 yards on the ground are the third-highest total.

Boyle’s 46 carries for 517 yards (11.24 yards per carry) are second among area backs. While he hit the century mark for the fourth time this season against Blue Mountain, it was an effort aided by Tamaqua’s ability to flip the field with a dominant defense and superb special teams.

“We’ve been maintaining a pretty good balance, and I think special teams are huge,” said Raiders’ head coach Sam Bonner. “Matty Kistler did a great job, had a kickoff return for 94 yards, had a punt return for 56, so a lot of times we had a short field. We try to spread it around, hit a pass, and then Nate took off for a couple of long runs on short fields. When you throw for 15 yards on first down and run for 20 on the second play, before you know it, you’re going in to score.

“I thought our kids took advantage of the situations that we had, especially with the turnovers and our special teams.”

Tamaqua forced three turnovers and allowed just 170 yards against the Eagles.

Boyle took advantage of the short field, scoring touchdowns from 1-, 3- and 8-yards out. His longest score was a 28-yard scamper.

The Raiders finished with 269 yards on the ground, their second-highest total of the season.

Armed with the area’s leading receiver in Kistler (17 catches, 387 yards, seven touchdowns) and Knoblauch, who ranks second with 848 yards passing, 10 touchdowns and one interception, at the controls, Tamaqua’s offensive prowess is undeniable.

“Our team has a lot of weapons, and all those weapons take the weight off other people’s shoulders,” said Boyle. “It makes my job easier; it makes Matt’s (Kistler) job easier. We have a great quarterback (Brayden Knoblauch), and a great line.

“When you have so many weapons, it really helps the team have a diverse attack.”

Not only is Boyle a threat on offense, he also is the team’s third-leading tackler (24), and handles kicking duties for the Raiders, having converted 28 extra points this season.

“One thing with Nate, he gets a lot of credit for being a big offensive player, but people don’t realize he’s probably been one of our best linebackers that we’ve had over the last four years, as well as being one of our best special teams players that we’ve had over the last four years,” said Bonner. “So he’s a kid that doesn’t just do it offensively, he does it in all three aspects of the game, and he does it well in all three aspects.”

Boyle’s happy to do whatever it takes to help the team, a task the continues this week against Pottsville (4-1).

“Obviously, I’m most proud of being 5-0 and having a great start,” he said. “As the season goes on, it’s going to get tougher and tougher, and we just have to take every game like it’s our last game, and perform the best that we can.

“Every week’s a building block. The schedule’s getting harder every game, and we’re just going to have to practice harder, and practice every day 100 percent, and go out every Friday night and give it our all.”